You'll Always Be My Birdy
by Kiwi Rebellion
Summary: The last place on Earth Birdy wants to be is Mineral Town yet, that is where she ends up. Here she has to find friends and a home to call her own, but she also finds herself.
1. All Alone

**Hey, this is CookieTin/Firefly/Pineapple/Kaora whoever you wanna call me. My computer completely crashed, we got a new one, all of my data got deleted. Yes, everything. Including my stories. DDD: So I'm starting over, new account, new stories. I'll try my best to complete the ones I've already started, but I can't promise anything, I'm sorry. **

**Anyway, here's my newest fanfiction (Harvest Moon of course!). Sorry this first chapter is so imcredibly short, but, it is a prologue. I promise the other ones will be longer.**

oOoOo

"...He was a good person overall, who was kind and generous to everyone, and never refused someone in need."

It was four o'clock P.M. on a Sunday, but instead of the usual cheery chatter that was usually heard after church, the church grounds were deathly silent. Everyone wore black, and their heads were bowed respectively, most people crying. Being a small town, Mineral town also had few deaths. This was the first death in almost ten years, so naturally, it was a big thing. Everyone in the town (okay, so it was about twenty people, but still) had come to mourn the loss of the man who had been with most of them for decades. All except for one person.

Roberta Julianna Kittel, better known as Birdy, stood behind the other mourning townspeople, her head bowed. She was not humbling the deceased man, but instead she was staring at the ground, trying with all her might not to cry. She focused on her clasped hands, the fingertips peeking out of the long sleeves of the black winter dress. It came down to her knees, the rest of her legs covered by thick black stockings. Her feet donned ankle-length boots, as it was a Winter's day. Her dark brown hair fell over her shoulders and the long bangs covered her red-rimmed brown eyes. Her shoulders were slumped, and she willed herself to stay put; she could **not** go see the man... she could not... that would just cause her to cry...

And finally her tears spilled, hot and salty and sweet. She choked back a sob but failed as it shook her shoulders uncontrollably. Her tears froze instantly as they hit the icy, snow-covered ground. Her put one hand to her eyes and the other to her mouth, tying to stifle her sobs. A kind lady in front of her turned and looked on Birdy with sympathy. Her hair was candy-pink and her eyes were soft and kind, but she looked sickly and cold, shivers shaking her frail-looking body. A girl and a young man stood next to her, the girl with the same candy-pink hair, the boy with sandy hair. The girl was sobbing openly and making quite a racket for a young adult.

There was complete and utter silence (aside from the pink-haired girl's loud sobbing). Birdy felt the seconds tick on by, except they were longer and more painful. And then came a soft thump, and Birdy knew the casket was at the bottom of the grave. She bit her lip even harder until she tasted the bitter, salty taste that was blood. She heard, as if it were far-off, the preacher's voice saying a few last words.

And suddenly all eyes were on her. Bewildered, Birdy's head shot up and she looked around stupidly, confused. Then she understood that they were waiting to see if she would see the man's casket one last time.

But that was too much for her. She screamed, "GRANDADDY!" and the tears came again, more feircly than before. She was sobbing so hard that she felt dizzy. In a sudden fit of strength that she did not recognize, Birdy ran up to the ditch that her beloved grandfather was in. He was trapped. Trapped trapped trapped trapped trapped trapped. In a **box**. Never to come out. Never to see the sunshine or walk with her through nature or put yellow roses on Grandma's grave or tell her stories of visit or study birds or take her to museums or... or anything. He was **gone**. And there was nothing she could do, and she couldn't stand it.

She took of running, sprinting faster and breathing harder than she knew possible. She felt her dress whip wildly around her legs; heard the wind scream in her ear; saw her Grandaddy smiling softly at her for the last time; heard his last words to her... "I love you... you will always be my Birdy". She was blinded by her tears and did not see where she was running but didn't care-- she had to leave, she had to get away from this place. She tripped, falling with a crash on wet snow and she just... lay there, unmoving, tears streaming down her face, freezing yet burning on her cheeks. She felt like dying. And why not? The most important person to her had left the world; left her all alone. All alone...

oOoOo

The smell of coffee and toast roused Birdy from her deep slumber. Her eyelids fluttered and she shifted around, turning on her side. She pulled the blankets up closer to her chin and... wait, blankets?

Birdy shot up, the blankets forgotten as she wondered wildly where she was. She looked around, but, seeing nothing familiar, became almost frantic. She was just about to scream when...

"You're awake!"

Birdy whirled around to face a young man who looked around her age looking at her with concern. She gasped, and, confused, tried to hit him. "Get-away-from-me!" she shrieked, kicking wildly.

He calmly grabbed both of her flailing arms with one hand and waited for her to calm. She struggled, but without her hands was useless. She flopped down on the bed and began sobbing again.

"H-he-he's gone! Forever! And I c-can't... I can't...!"

"Shh..." the boy soothed softly. "Calm down. You're obviously still a bit delerious. I'm Jack. I found you lying face-down in my garden after I came home from..." he glanced at her and decided not to say he had just come back from the old man's burial, "...just came home and saw you there. I-I couldn'y let you freeze, so... I just let you stay on the couch." He opened his mouth, taking a breath, but before he could continue a shrill beep was heard. He stood up.

"Ah, your clothes are done. I'll be right back."

Birdy sighed in exhuastion and was about to lull off to sleep again when his words sunk in: "**Your** clothes are done..."

She shot back up again and looked at herself. She was wearing a huge T-shirt, obviously Jack's, but... she stuffed a hand up the shirt and felt her bra strap. She exhaled a little. He hadn't taken all her clothes... or maybe he had while she was sleeping? A feirce blush rose to her cheeks and she covered herself up with the blanket.

When Jack came back she turned away. Looking puzzled, he put the basket of clothes down next to her, saw her blush as she grabbed them, and realized.

"Oh... n-no, I... your clothes... your dress and st-stockings were soaked," he stammered, "s-so I thought it'd be better if I washed th-them for you... b-but... um... the rest of your clothes were fine!"

Birdy breathed a sigh of releif and looked up to study her rescuer for a brief second. He had light brown hair than fell in his face and kind brown eyes, and wore jean overalls, a plain white T-shirt much like the one Birdy had on, and a blue baseball cap.

"Well," Birdy said, breaking the silence, "thank you for saving me. I-I don't know where I'd be right now if it wasn't for you. Thank you so much. Oh, and... thanks for, uhm, washing my clothes, too..." she finished, her face still slightly pink.

"You're welcome," Jack said sincerely. "Now, you can go get dressed in the bathroom," he pointed to his left, "and... be on your ay, I guess."

Birdy nodded and picked up the basket of clothes, walking uneasily toward the bathroom.

oOoOo

Ten minutes later, Birdy came out, looking almost as she has the day before. She carried the T-shirt under her left arm, rolled up in a ball. She gave it to Jack, saying, "Thanks again. I can't repay your kindness, but... thank you." She even allowed herself a small smile. He smiled back.

As she left, Birdy felt extremely guilty. She wouldn't ever be able to pay him back. She would have liked to, but she was **never** coming back to this little village. And she was almost-- almost-- sorry.


	2. Stuck With Bad Luck

**Now that you've all met Birdy, I think its time to start the actual story, shall we? This chapter **

oOoOo

Stuck.

That was what Birdy was; stuck. Since her grandfather had passed away and he was her last relative, she had to either go live on her own (starting out almost completely broke) or, if her grandfather had said anything in his will, do what he wanted. Even though she was an adult, she was still entitled to do what he wanted, and usually she wanted to.

But this was that one time when she'd have been better off living on her own.

In his will, Birdy's grandaddy had begged that Birdy stay in Mineral Village. He said the country air was much cleaner than the smoggy city air, and that the people were "lovely, really lovely". Of course, she had the choice to leave and ignore his last wishes. But she loved him too much to refuse to do one last favor for him. Besides, where else would she go? She had very little money, and here was a house and furniture all ready for her here, even if they did belong to her grandfather. So she was truly stuck in the last place on Earth she wanted to be.

Sighing, Birdy rolled off her "new" bed and onto the floor. She walked to the window and peeked out. The grass all around the house was peeking out from underneath the piles of now melting snow, and Birdy thought she even saw a daffodil. This lifted her spirits a bit. Spring, her favorite season, was on its way!

Birdy slipped on the black dress and the stockings and one of the black boots. As she was rooting around for the other boot, she wished she had thought to bring her clothes. Now, she had to wear the horrible black outfit she had been forced to wear only two days prior. Not that it was ugly or anything; it actually was quite pretty. But beauty didn't make up for the horrible time she'd had in this outfit. She wished she had new clothes, even if they were a boy's T-shirt.

Finally she found her lost boot and shoved it on. She straighted and walked out to the door, her boots make thumping sounds on the worn wood floor. She needed to take her mind of the last two days, and exploring was the way to do it.

Not that she was going to talk to any people, she decided as she touched the tip of the daffodil she had seen. They would only make her feel worse, what with their apologies and sad faces and meaningless comforts. She'd just stay away from town; easy, since she now lived on Mother's Hill and town was far down past Jack's farm.

Birdy shivered a little as snow seeped slowly into her right boot, making her toes feel completely frozen. She wandered a little farther north, north, north... until she stopped abruptly.

A boy and an older man stood gazing out over the peak of the mountain, seeming transfixed, especially the older man. Birdy bit back a scream as she thought, _They're going to jump off!_ She ran up to them and pulled each on the backs of their shirts. The boy collapsed next to her, but the old man was surprisingly strong. Her whirled around and glared grumpily at her. "D'ya mind?" he growled.

Slightly taken aback, Birdy took two steps back and tripped over they boy's leg, falling over next to him. The boy stood up and glared down at her, tugging at his cap so the brim covered even more of his icey bue eyes.

"S-sorry," she muttered inaudibly, standing up and brushing herself off. They didn't say anything more to her after that, so Birdy decided she wouldn't give them an explaination, either. _Besides,_ she thought in embarrassment, _maybe I over-reacted. They don't look like they're going to jump off after all._ So she turned and walked down the mountain, her face still tinged pink.

Now she was all wet and covered with quickly melting snow. And she had no other clothes to wear, so she'd just have to deal with it. Birdy put on her best poker face and marched forward, trying with all her might to ignore the freezing water that clung to her clothes. She marched right past Jack's farm without noticing; she was in some kind of daze. She didn't even see the houses until someone called, "Hey! Heeeeeeey!"

Birdy blinked and looked around, stopping in her tracks. She saw snow, houses, more snow... wait, houses? She paled as she realized she was in town. And someone had called her; someone had seen her!

Looking around, Birdy's eye cought on to something candy-pink. It was hard to miss in a sea of white snow. As she studied the person, who turned out to be a girl, Birdy thought she recognized her... Ah. Pink hair, long red skirt, pale skin. She was the girl Birdy had seen sobbing openly at... at... a few days ago. As the girl walked nearer, Birdy noticed something even more peculiar than her hair-- her eyes were red. Birdy felt extremely stupid now; this girl's eyes hadn't been red from crying like hers had been; this girl's eyes were always red! It was her natural eye color.

Finally the girl stood next to her, smiling happily. "Hallo! You don't look too familiar. I'm Popuri, nice to meetcha and greetcha!" Weird hair, weirder eyes, and even weirder name. **Popuri**?

"I'm Birdy," Birdy replied quietly. "Just... just moved in..." It was true, but she didn't know how long exactly she'd stay.

Popuri squealed happily. "Oooh, ooooooooooh, so you're the old man's granddaughter!" she said in her bubbly voice. "I thought you'd be just a kid, but you look about my age! This is so exciting; I've got a new friend!"

_Hold on just a sec,_ Birdy thought, _slow down! I don't even know you!_ But she allowed herself another tiny smile. "Hello, I'm Roberta, but please just call me Birdy."

Popuri looked ecstatic. "Oooh, what a pretty name!" she exclaimed. "Birdy, birdy in the sky, flying, flying oh-so high..." she sang. "Why oh why, did you crap in my eye?"

Birdy bit back a laugh. "I can tell you truthfully that I have never and will never crap in someone's eye," Birdy promised, raising her right hand as if pledging.

Popuri giggled a bit too. "That's good. Oh," she added, seemingly remembering something, "if you're not busy with anything, do you wanna come meet my family? I'm sure they'll be excited to see a new face!" Popuri said with a smile bright as sunshine.

"Well... ... ..." Birdy pretended to think about it, but she smiled and said, "...of course. But I can only stay for a moment. I'm looking for a job, you see, so--"

"Say no more!" Popuri exclaimed. She grabbed Birdy's hand and half-dragged her to the nearest house.

It was a small, but tidy house. A fireplace burned cheerily in a corner, a boy standing in front of it, warming his hands. I recognized him from the other day. A teakettle whistled, spewing steam into the air, and Birdy jumped. The boy walked oiver to get the kettle, but saw Birdy and stopped.

"Popuri, who is this?" he demanded, not in a cruel way. He studied her all-black clothing and raised an eyebrow. Birdy blushed.

"Ah. Uhm. I know what you're thinking, and no, I'm not a goth. I just... don't have any other clothes..." She coughed, embarrassed. "You see, I just moved it, and--"

"Poppy? Is that you?" a soft voice called from upstairs. All eyes turned to the staircase, and the boy rushed over and climbed up the stairs. A few moments later he came down, this time leading... the pink-haired woman Birdy had seen at the funeral? She smiled as she seemed to see Birdy, which Birdy thought was odd-- she hadn't seen the lady's eyes open.

"Ah, hello dear," she said kindly. "You were... at the funeral, weren't you?" She walked steadly, yet slowly, towards a desk, her long, curly pink hair swishing behind her.

Birdy nodded. "Yes... I was," she whispered, as if words would shatter this fragile-looking woman to peices.

The woman smiled. "I'm Lillia; it's a pleasure to meet you. Now tell me, are you staying here for a few days...?"

"Nope!" Popuri piped up. "She told me she'll be staying here in her grandfather's mountain cottage!"

Lillia nodded. "Oh, so you're his granddaughter," she mused. "You seem so much like him already... you have the same... air about you. I can't quite put my finger on it. Hmmm..."

The boy came up to Popuri and Birdy and smiled. "Hello. I'm Rick. If what Mom says is true, that you are the old man's granddaughter--" Birdy winced. Old man? It sounded so... so common for a person like her grandaddy-- "and your name is Roberta...?"

"Birdy," she corrected. "Just Birdy, please."

"Birdy, birdy, in the skyyyyyyyyy!" Popuri began again, but Birdy wisely covered her mouth eith her hand. Popuri blinked, but stopped singing.

"Okay, Just Birdy," Rick said with a silly grin, "It was nice meeting you. Come back any time, okay? All our chickens lay really delicious eggs. Oh, by the way, you **do** like eggs, don't you?"

Birdy nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, eggs? I love them! Why?"

Rick nodded, his smile growing. "Ha! I knew it! I knew you were an egg-person!" He suddenly turned to the table behind him and grabbed something before turning back around and thrusting the object into Birdy's surprised hands. "It's a Spa-Boiled Egg," he explained. "There's a hot spring near the Goddess Pond; you just toss an egg in and-- voila!-- a Spa-Boiled Egg! They're delicious."

"Uh-uh-uh, but, I really couldn't--" Birdy began, trying to give the egg back. The family would have none of it.

"No," Popuri disagreed, "you're new, and, from what I here, broke. You need it more than we do."

"But--"

"We live on a chicken farm and eat eggs for almost every meal. We'll never run out of a supply of eggs and chickens, but you dear, don't have a single clucker," Lillia chimed in softly.

"I really couldn't--"

"C'mon, Birdy. It's **one egg**," Rick pointed out. "We're not going to starve just because we gave away one egg."

Birdy sighed, defeated. "Well... all right then, when you put it that way... Thank you. But I really have to go. I need to get a job, you see, and--"

"Say no more!" Popuri interrupted. "We understand!" Smiling like crazy, she grabbed Birdy's wrist and dragged her out the door. All three family members poked their heads outside to smile goodbye to a bewildered Birdy. "Come visit!" Popuri called cheerily as she closed the door.

Birdy found herself outside, confused, holding a still-warm egg (warm from the Spa...?), and devoloping a headache. _That went by... quickly,_ she thought, placing the egg carefully into her backpack. Rubbing her temples, she walked away from the Poultry Farm property and, trying to sort out the conversation with Popuri and her family, was not looking where she was going. She ran right into someone, falling over on the ground more from surprise than anything.

"Watch it."

Birdy looked up into the icy blue eyes of the boy whom she had tackled earlier. He was scowling down at her, one eye half-covered by an odd hat that said "UMA" on the brim. He looked almost punk-rock with the light golden tie.

Unable to speak for embarrassment, Birdy gaped and blushed, hoping he'd go away so he wouldn't see her act like a drooling idiot.

The boy didn't go away as Birdy had hoped. Instead, his look softened a bit. "...Can you talk?" he said in an articulate voice.

Birdy nodded. "Uh-uh-uh-uh," she stammered quite intelligently, "uh..."

The boy rolled his eyes and held out his hand. Birdy stared at in bewilderment. Did he want her to shake it? Or was he trying to help her get up?

Birdy combined the two ideas; she grabbed his hand, which was calloused but warm, shook it, and then hauled herself up. "I'm B-Birdy," she managaed to say through her shivers-- her dress was now completely soaked.

The boy nodded and let go of her hand. "Gray," he answered.

Birdy blinked. Was that his name, or...?

"Welcome to the boonies," he continued. With a tug of his hat, he shoved past her and walked into a small, cozy-looking building with a brown sign by the door. Birdy walked up to it, curiosity getting the better of her. Was this where the gray-guy lived? As she read the sign, which stated that this house was blacksmith's, Birdy decided he must work here-- there was no room at all for a person to live there!

Walking away, Birdy clutched her shoulders protectively, shivering profusely. Her shivers racked her whole body feircly, and walking becamre difficult. _Maybe I should go home..._ she decided, her teeth chattering loudly. She turned around and stumbled back towards the Poultry Farm and the blacksmiths. _Okay... so I just have to... have to go by here and... and...? What next?_ Blinking again, she took a few shaky steps, her vision getting bleary. _I need to hurry, _ Birdy thought, _I need to hurry..._

And then everything went black.


End file.
